By: Erich Roden
Talk about your time playing ball for Nebraska. What are the parallels between playing college ball and the fire service?
I walked on the play football at the University of Nebraska in 2001 and played until 2004. While I was there, I had the opportunity to play with a Heisman Trophy Winner: Eric Crouch, and play for a national championship: the 2001 Rose Bowl. During my playing days, we experienced many ups and downs and dealt with much adversity. We went from playing in a championship to having one of the worst seasons in Nebraska Football history – within a single year. We grew more as a team during our 6-6 season than we did during our 12-2 season the year prior. We learned that we would have to work together as one unit in order to be successful. The next season, we finished with a 10-3 record! This team-first attitude directly correlates to the fire service: Everything we do in the fire service is team related. We go to the store together; we sit and drink coffee together. Everyone has a role on a medical call, fire call, fire alarm, etc. Everyone’s role on the team directly correlates whether a call is successful or not. I learned early on while playing football to put my team first, rather than my individual needs.
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